LEON VYNEHALL Rare, Forever LP
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BOOKLET / DRUKOWANA WEWNĘTRZNA KOPERTA
Leon Vynehall has announced the followup to 2018's critically acclaimed debut Nothing Is Still (which garnered widespread praise including appearing in ‘Album of the Year’ lists from Rough Trade, Mixmag, Esquire, The Vinyl Factory, RA and more) in the form of new album Rare, Forever which will be released on 30 April via Ninja Tune. Along with the announcement he has shared two new tracks 'Mothra' and 'Ecce! Ego!'.
Speaking of 'Mothra' Vynehall says:
"Mothra is the euphoric unfurling of 'something'. Muted notes fluttering free before returning to the cascade we arrived from, only now with purpose"
Speaking of 'Ecce! Ego!' Vynehall says:
"The tracks' title literally translates from Latin to 'Behold! Me!' A fitting introduction to an album about my own psyche, I thought. It starts off where Nothing Is Still left off, but rapidly switches to something more fluid, perhaps even sinister. I kind of think of this song as 'Envelopes (Chapter VI)'s fucked up cousin."
As anyone pursuing a creative outlet will do at some point in their process; upon turning 30 in Los Angeles, far from his London home, Leon Vynehall found himself wondering about what he’s trying to say in life, where he’s trying to go and thinking about his career to date. After bringing euphoria to dancefloors all over the world with the humid house of Rojus (Designed To Dance), he took a sharp left turn with debut album Nothing Is Still — a masterclass in subverting expectations. With the entry to the long-running DJ-Kicks series that followed, Vynehall turned further away from convention, putting together a mix that naturally and creatively blended everything from industrial and techno to dancehall, soul and ambient in a way that Resident Advisor described in their 4.4/5 review as “brilliantly executed”.
Those who have spent time with Vynehall’s music over the past decade will know how much it is rooted in family. Nothing Is Still — which was part of a wider multimedia experience spanning film (with video elements directed by Young Replicant) and literature — was dedicated to Vynehall’s grandparents and traced their emigration from London to New York in the 1960s, his own journey to Los Angeles striking some distant, ghostly parallels with theirs. Music For The Uninvited was inspired by the funk, soul and hip-hop tapes his mum used to play on car journeys to and from school. But on Rare, Forever, Vynehall is showcasing all the strings to his bow - creating music that’s borderless and unbound.
Rare, Forever sees Vynehall for the first time investigating who he is as a person and artist in the very moment, rather than looking to the past to discover what and who has shaped him. The result then contains multiple sides to him, but variety in his art is something Vynehall is used to - he described his 2018 Resident Advisor Podcast as taking the dancefloor “left and right, up and down." On Rare, Forever, he’s taking a victory lap. The album is a beautiful marriage of everything he's done so far while remaining genuinely progressive; the end result sounding like Nothing Is Still but with the narrative toned down, and the dancefloor dialled up.
Rare, Forever will feel familiar for fans of Vynehall’s DJ-Kicks mix or his eclectic excursions on NTS while simultaneously sounding unlike anything he’s ever done before. As much as there are dancefloor memories and moments, it’s not strictly a dance record — instead, Rare, Forever is the clearest representation of the broad spectrum of music he’s made to date.
More recently, Vynehall has set up a new recording space 'Studio Ooze' to expand his collaborations and has been writing and producing for the likes of Kam-Bu, Wesley Joseph, Kenzie TTH and Jeshi - a number of which are slated for imminent release.
A1. Ecce! Ego!
A2. In>Pin
A3. Mothra
A4. Alichea Vella Amor
A5. Snakeskin ∞ Has-Been
B1. Worm (& Closer & Closer)
B2. An Exhale
B3. Dumbo
B4. Farewell! Magnus Gabbro
B5. All I See Is You, Velvet Brown
